


Only Us

by FluffyGremlin



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 02:28:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyGremlin/pseuds/FluffyGremlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fanfic based on the radio play "Torchwood: The Lost Files - House of the Dead".  All standard spoiler warnings and "I don't own them"s apply.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Us

Jack stepped into the darkened room, blinking his eyes as he's assaulted by the strong, smoky incenses. The large hall was full of all sorts, human and otherwise, moving towards the center of the room. Jack pulled his collar up a bit higher and circled the crowd to find a better position to see the three Ood sitting in the middle of the room, slowly rocking back and forth as they sang louder and louder.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he felt shivers run up and down his spine. This was the place, alright. This was the time. Jack had waited over a hundred years after he first met the little fortune teller for his Doctor. He had waited so very much longer for this moment to arrive.

The song grew louder and the crowd grew restless…

“You shouldn’t be here.” Jack opened his eyes slowly as the familiar voice cut through the chatter.

“Neither should you,” he said, turning slowly. The man beside him gave him a lopsided smile before a sadder look took over his face.

“Really, Jack,” the man said softly. “You shouldn’t have come.”

“You know me,” Jack shrugged. “I never did like following the rules.”

The man’s blue eyes searched Jack’s face, catching the grey hairs at his temples and the lines that creased his eyes as he smiled.

“You remembered.”

“I promised you I would.”

The man nodded and glanced around the room. The crowd was beginning to disperse already as the Oods’ song grew softer again. Some faces were damp with tears, happy and sad alike.

“This isn’t like the last time, is it?” The man stepped closer to Jack. He spoke so softly, as if he was afraid of ruining the moment with anything louder than a breath.

“You remember that?” Jack tried to resist to grab the hand that hung limply at the man’s side. He swallowed back a lump in his throat.

“I remember everything… now. I’m sorry I didn’t before.” The man’s whispering words cut through the smoke.

“Ianto…” Jack reached out then only to have the man pull away.

“Don’t, Jack. You can’t do this to yourself again.” Ianto slid his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall behind him. “Why do this? It’s not worth the pain.”

“You are worth every pain and so much more,” Jack insisted, stepping into Ianto’s personal space so that he could ghost a hand across his cheek. “You always were. You always will be.”

“The last time… the rift…” Ianto closed his eyes as he leaned into Jack’s gentle caress. The older man allowed himself a moment of hope as he felt the warmth beneath his fingertips. A single tear worked its way through Ianto’s dark lashes and Jack leaned forward to kiss it away. Ianto sighed.

“Jack,” Ianto forced himself to pull away. “We can’t go through this all over again. I know you love me, I remember every word, but you can’t let the ghosts of your past keep haunting you like this. It’s been so long...”

“It has been a long time, Ianto Jones, so very long, but this isn’t like the last time. Not truly. You _have_ to trust me.”

“Always.” Ianto felt breath he shouldn’t need catch in his throat as tears he couldn’t cry slid down his face.

“I called in one last favor,” Jack continued, resting his hand on Ianto’s back lightly. “She told me when and where and how and now… Here you are.”

“Here I am.” Ianto smiled slightly. “And here I’ll stay.”

“No,” Jack growled, “Not this time.”

Jack pulled back and ran a hand through his hair as he looked around the hall. Only the Ood remained, singing softly. He could feel their pleasure and peace in his mind as he listened to the song. He turned back to find Ianto watching him with the same sad smile on his face.

“Can’t you feel it?” he asked him softly. “This place is so full of energy, permeating every atom, every breath… every soul. The Ood draw it in like the center of a tempest. Their song… they call it ‘The Closing’ but sometimes it can be so much more than that.”

Ianto stared into Jack’s eyes, breathing in the incense in shaky gasps. He looked away for a moment and focused on the three aliens grouped together on the floor. He was mesmerized as they continued their mournful humming.

“This is an ancient place known across the universe,” Jack continued. “Miracles happen here or so the rumors go. Once in a great while the Ood sing their song and instead of closure there are beginnings.”

“Syriath...” Ianto choked on the name.

“Has nothing to do with this,” Jack insisted. He grabbed Ianto’s shoulders and turned him away from the Ood. Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on Ianto’s lips.

“Ianto, you have to trust me. This rift is nothing like the one in Cardiff so long ago. There is no evil here… only us.”

He leaned forward again, shifting his hands to cradle Ianto’s face as he pressed another kiss onto his lips. Pulling back he looked deep into the pale blue eyes he had dreamed about for a millennia.

“Only us…”

“I don’t… I can’t…” Ianto looked away again, eyes flickering all around the room, focusing on nothing.

“When Syriath pulled you out of time to torment me she did something so much more than even she realized… she gave you life, Ianto. Life! She plucked you from a moment and pushed you back into the world and in doing that she made you whole again.”

“What does that mean, Jack? What am I know? A… a… zombie? A ghost? A physical manifestation of a single breath?”

“No, no, no!” Jack tilted Ianto’s chin up to force him to meet his eye again. “You have a heartbeat. You breathe. You think. You… love. You are _my_ Ianto… and so much more.”

Ianto swallowed past the ache in his chest and closed his eyes. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, drowning out the Oods’ song.

“More?” he breathed out.

“A single moment of time,” Jack said softly. “Something constant. Something… unchanging…”

“Like you,” Ianto finished Jack’s thought and opened his eyes slowly.

“Like me,” Jack sighed, “but only if you chose to be. Only if you walk out those doors. Stay here and return to the darkness or come with me. It’s your choice, Ianto Jones. I can't make it for you. I love you too much to do that.”

Ianto’s eyes fluttered closed for a moment before he opened them again and slowly began to smile.

“Only us…” he said softly, taking Jack’s hands into his own. “And this time we leave together.”


End file.
